The rise and phenomenal success of Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali in the 60s spawned a new generation of fighters from that time on through the 80s, in fact till to date who patterned their style after his with relative success that had the effect of influencing punchers and brawlers to be mindful of their own and their opponents' boxing abilities. Hence, in the 60s, we saw the rise of the likes of Pone Kingpetch, bengkrek Charvanchai, Yoshiaki Numata, Masao Ohba, Nicolino Locche, Nino Benvenuti, the 70s the likes of Jimmy Young, Larry Holmes, Sammy Serrano, Antonio Cervantes, Bruno Arcari and the 80s, the likes of Sugar Ray Leonard, Wilfred Benitez, Michael Nunn, Meldrick Taylor, Hector Camacho, Sr. The 90s saw the likes of Roy Jones, Jr., Shane Mosley, Oscar de la Hoya,Pernell Whiatker, Ricardo Lopez and currently we have the likes of Floyd Mayweather, Adrien Broner, Guillermo Rigondeux, Andre Ward, Sergio Martinez.
I think the trend is just a continuation of the boxing/fighting style Ali patented in the 60s. Deep inside, many boxers from that time on, would like to be like Cassius/Muhammad Ali who could box but also go toe to toe if needed,
Between the 60's and 80's boxers were a lot better than today. Boxers like Foreman and Frazier were great brawlers, boxers like Ali and Holmes were great at outboxing opponents. Despite this Ali and Frazier switched from box to brawl many times during their fights.
we got plenty of brawlers in modern times....
it is true that fights get stopped faster today than they used to, but todays fighters could hand with the guys from the 60s any day
Today they have more strategy..........train for weeks with a specific game plan in mind .If they have to run, to score points today, to impress judges, they do so, where as more fighters years ago, would go out and box, fight, and get the job done. They weren't there to please the crowd , as much as beat their opponent and win the fight.
they did both. Boxer back then fought way more. We still have good boxers today but boxing back then in my opinion was way better.
Do you think Boxers from the 60's to the early 80's brawled more than boxed and went toe to toe ? Compared too today. Give me your thoughts.
